I had a sudden failure of all electrical in the cabin. Details below.

The problem:

There are no lights on the dash, cabin lights, or cigarette outlet power. I do not hear any relays or other sounds when turning the key forward. It appears there is no power after the firewall regardless of key position.

What happened:

I drove it about 40 minutes, parked, went to a meeting, and came back to the Jeep. I turn the key to start the engine and I get all the correct lights momentarily, and then of they all go out. There haven't been any interior or guage lights since. My first thought was a blown fuse.
The Jeep was running great.

I had an intermittent ground issue but I cleaned the chassis grounds and put 2 new lugs in the grounds to the battery as well as 2 new lugs on the positive wires going to the battery. This seemed to fix the one issue I was having with the occasional 'no bus' on the guage cluster.

Troubleshooting:
I have scoured the forums for related issues and tested following:

• All fuses in the main distribution box as well as the interior were checked and had continuity.
• All fuses in the distribution box had 12.83v.
• Chassis grounds to the battery - checked at multiple locations.
• The fuse-able link to the distribution box was checked using a method found on the forum. The battery lugs were disconnected, B+ on the alt was disconnected, and it was disconnected at the distribution box. Tested 'closed' on the meter which I understand means it isn't blown.
• Starter - I have power at the two large terminals but I did not check the small wire.
• Battery was load tested at AutoZone and scored a 100%. It was replaced in January.
• I tried to turn the key in multiple positions while moving the gear selector all the way up the tree and back down in case it tripped the NSS or something squirrelly.
• I checked the power to the ignition relay and got power on 3/5 pins. My understanding is one pin is switched and one is unused.

I may be missing something but those are the highlights.

I suspect either the ignition switch or a wire short behind the firewall. The issue is that as I was doing this, the steering tilt froze in the up position. I don't know how to get it to release and getting the ignition switch out with it stuck is going to be a massive PITA.

Help

 

Update: I have no power to the interior fuse panel. I have power to the main distribution box under the hood but no power in the passenger foot well as best I can tell.

I removed the main supply from that panel and checked the contacts.

 

FWIW, I have a set of factory service manuals coming for my 92 XJ 4.0 It is my intention to scan and colorize the wiring diagrams with this board. FSMs should arrive the Halloween weekend.

If any one has a place I can park this PDF file, send me a note PM.